The rouble slumped to new all-time lows on Thursday (January 21) as speculative pressure on the currency built, piling pressure on policymakers and reinforcing fears about the fragility of the commodity-dependent economy. Pushed down by a collapse in global prices of oil that has soured sentiment for Russian assets, the rouble broke through 83 roubles per dollar for the first time before later slumping to 86 per dollar. Chief economist with Alfa Bank, Natalia Orlova, […]
International
CDC issues guidelines for pregnant women during Zika outbreak
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention on Thursday (January 21) discussed new guidelines for doctors caring for pregnant women who might have been exposed to Zika virus, a mosquito-borne infection that can cause brain damage in a developing fetus. The new guidelines, first reported by Reuters, include a warning to pregnant women to avoid travel to 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America affected by the virus. They include: […]
Last year was hottest on record globally -U.S. science agencies
Last year’s global average temperature was the hottest ever by the widest margin on record, two U.S. government agencies said on Wednesday (January 20), adding to pressure for deep greenhouse gas emissions cuts scientists say are needed to arrest warming that is disrupting the global climate. Data from U.S. space agency NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that in 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62 degrees […]
Thai authorities arrest three activists, abduct student leader
Thai authorities arrested a group of activists wanted for attempting to demonstrate against the military last month, police said on Thursday, the latest arrest of dissidents in the junta-ruled country. Soldiers detained one student activist from the New Democracy opposition group late on Wednesday and police arrested a further three members of the group on Thursday (January 21). They were the latest arrests by the army, which took power in a May 2014 coup and […]
Intensive military operations continue at Russian airbase in Syria
Military operations have been carried out continuously at Russia’s Hmeymim airbase in the Syrian city of Latakia, with the roar of aircraft a common occurrence since Russian forces arrived last September. With Mi-24 attack helicopters hovering over the airbase, fighter jets from the Sukhoi-designed fleet, including the Russian Air Force’s latest Su-34 model, have been taking off from the base to conduct airstrikes against terrorist targets in the war-stricken country. “The Russian air force has […]
Protesters breach Moldovan parliament after new premier appointed
Protesters forced their way into the Moldovan parliament demanding snap elections on Wednesday (January 20), after lawmakers appointed the country’s third prime minister in less than a year in a bid to end months of political deadlock. Waving flags and shouting slogans, a dozen protesters scuffled with police in riot gear and accused lawmakers who appointed Pavel Filip, a member of the main pro-European coalition, of being traitors. Police later secured the building and the […]
Tunisian police clash with unemployment protesters in Kasserine
Jobless protesters clashed with police on Wednesday (January 20) in the central Tunisian city of Kasserine as anger over rising unemployment in the North African country triggered demonstrations in the capital Tunis and several other cities. At least one policeman was killed in Feriana after he was attacked by protesters, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said. Large crowds burned tyres and chanted: “Work, freedom, dignity” during a second day of demonstrations that erupted in […]
Syrians displaced by fighting returns home in south Damascus
Hundreds of Syrian families displaced by armed conflicts returned to their homes in south Damascus on Wednesday as part of a truce between the government and local rebels reached last year. About 4,000 residents of Qadam Municipality, who fled the fighting in the last three years, returned to their hometown on the buses provided by the government. “I feel so happy. How I wish that all Syrians could go back to their homes and that […]
Seven countries to intensify campaign against IS
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter won agreement from defense ministers from France and five other nations on Wednesday to intensify the campaign against IS militants in Iraq and Syria. A bilateral meeting was held firstly between Ashton Carter and Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s Defense Minister, to discuss the issue before the closed-door meeting among the defense ministers from the other five countries, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy and Germany. This is the […]
‘Middle-class Joe’ Biden tells Davos bosses to look after workers
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden criticised modern corporate “short-termism” on Wednesday (January 20) and urged chief executives gathered in Davos to look after their workers as well as their shareholders. Relishing his nickname of “middle-class Joe”, he told delegates at the World Economic Forum annual meeting that the middle classes, the backbone of economies and democracies, now faced unprecedented threats from technological change. “For I believe the underlying question for world leaders, civil society, academia, […]
6.4-magnitude earthquake jolts NW China
AN earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit Menyuan county of Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China’s Qinghai province at 1:13 a.m. on Thursday. As of now, no causalities have been reported, but, 40 buildings were destroyed. The epicenter was at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). An aftershock, measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale, was reported minutes after the initial quake. Tremors have also […]
Tension rises as Russia’s rouble falls further
Russians gathered outside banks and closed restaurants on Wednesday (January 20) demanding foreign currency mortgages to be restructured and salaries paid, as the national currency hit the new record low. Employees flocked to the closed doors of the Sbarro pizza restaurant, holding flags and banners calling on the owners to pay them. Sergei, one of the protesters, explained that he and his colleagues have not received money for their work in a while. “The salary […]
